Admittedly, there is still work to be done on my part when it comes to the offseason due to the Eagles' long, Super Bowl season, but here’s somebody who might make some sense when/if Josh Sweat moves to another team in free agency.
That would be Malcolm Koonce, who missed all of last season with the Las Vegas Raiders after tearing an ACL.
Koonce’s career looked ready to take off after a 2023 season in which he posted eight sacks. He played all 17 games and made 11 starts. The Eagles paid Bryce Huff on potential last offseason after he put up 10 sacks with the New York Jets, and that hasn’t worked out well, so far.
Koonce won’t command as much money as Huff did and may be in the market for a one-year, prove-it deal. He will turn 27 in June, so he is young enough to land a multiyear if he has a standout season in 2025.
He could always return to the Raiders, but if you’re Koonce and the Eagles come calling, why wouldn’t you want that prove-it year with a team who is far closer to a Super Bowl than Las Vegas?
Koonce, who is 6-3, 250 pounds, was the Raiders’ third-round pick from the University of Buffalo in 2021, taken just six spots after the Eagles selected Milton Williams at No. 73 overall that year.
Of course, the 6-5, 260-pound Sweat won’t be easy to replace, but maybe Koonce would make some sense.
Three other names could be in play, but the chances of landing them would require some heavy lifting from general manager Howie Roseman in terms of the compensation he would be willing to part with and salary cap wrangling that would allow him to get them to fit.
Myles Garrett. The Cleveland Browns pass rusher with over 100 career sacks and six All-Pro nods wants out of the Dawg Pound and is at the top of everybody’s wish list. He just turned 29, but Garrett has a Saquon Barkley-esque work ethic and a desire to be great.
Maxx Crosby. The Raiders aren't going anywhere anytime soon, so maybe they look for a nice draft haul to part with their star edge rusher. He played only 12 games last year due to injury and had just 7.5 sacks, ending his streak of double-digit sacks at two.
Ted Hendrickson. He turned 30 in early December, but production from the Bengals superstar continues to soar with back-to-back seasons of 17.5 sacks. He was runner-up for the Defensive Player of the Year.
All three feel like longshots, but with Roseman, you just never know what he has up his sleeve.
